Guaranteed Rate Bowl Predictions: Kansas Jayhawks vs UNLV Rebels

It's the final game for the 2023 edition of the Kansas Jayhawks under Lance Leipold, and it looks like this one might be a shootout. The Jayhawks are taking on the UNLV Rebels in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. 

Kansas will be without offensive lineman Dominick Puni and defensive end Austin Booker, who have both opted out of the game. But will that be enough to let UNLV keep this game close? Or will the battle-tested Jayhawks show why playing in the Big 12 is so much tougher than the Mountain West?

Do you disagree with our assessment? Make sure you read them all and then hope over to the Discord or on Twitter to share your own thoughts.

Kyle Davis

Check out our UNLV Preview for Kyle's full breakdown and prediction.

Derek Noll

When I first saw that Kansas had drawn UNLV in a bowl game, my immediate reaction was that KU would roll. I’m not changing my mind. KU will be ready to play and fired up, I think that is a safe assumption and without focusing on what UNLV does well (run the ball), I just think that the Rebels defense hasn’t seen anything this year that looks like the Jayhawks. The multidimensional run game, combined with Jason Bean at the height of his powers, and some fine receivers, KU will pose threat after threat for UNLV. Offensively, Kansas has enough to just dominate. Defensively, KU will have to stop that run and a pretty decent pass game too (without Austin Booker) but I’m confident in that unit and the secondary will be in shut down mode. Gimme the Jayhawks in a huge one. 

Kansas 55, UNLV 28.

Brendan Dzwierzynski

The spread in this matchup is shifting toward UNLV, which is intriguing to me. No Puni or Booker is tough for Kansas, but I still think this Jayhawks team is far more talented than the Rebs. I’m sure we’ll see plenty of creativity on the offensive end, but I think if KU sticks to its basic offensive principles it should be just fine. That, to me, means a lot of Devin Neal and attacking the deep third with Jason Bean’s arm. UNLV has had a great year, but a mostly full-strength KU group should have more than enough firepower to win. 

Kansas 32, UNLV 20.

Andy Mitts

I talked about it in the preview episode of the Rock Chalk Podcast: UNLV team has a good run game, but nothing that is any better than what they saw every week in the Big 12. Kansas might struggle early in the game on defense, but the Jayhawks are more talented than any team UNLV beat this season.

The Kansas defense is hungry to show what they can do, especially the upper classmen on the secondary. Add in a Kansas offense that has so many options, and I just don't think UNLV has enough

Kansas 41, UNLV 21.